The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-04-19
A QUEER MARKET.
Proprietors and Patrons Of tho Petticoss
Lane and Rag Fair Of Paris.

Temple, at no great distance from the
Place de la Republique. 1t is the Pet
ticoat Lane and Rag Fair of Paris.
There cast-off clothes are retailed at
prices within the means of the respect
able poor; and secondhand articles.
such as shoes skillfully vamped, cheap
hardware, old scrap-iron and even the
refuse of the tables from hotels and
restaurants may be bought lat the
lowest price for cash" The business
done must be considerable, for the
the market is large one. and most OF
the stalls are well filled, That the
occupation of the stall-keepers is pecu-
liarly profitable is sufficiently indicated
by the fact that it is almost wholly fol-
lowed by Jews and Jewesses. The
mysteries of the old clothes trade prac-
ticed here are rigidly guarded from the
public ken. The most thrifty of house
wives would probably be indignant be-
yOnd expression were she TO be initiated
into the secrets of the science of reviy-
ing fabrics. Garments condemned as
shabby, and sold for rs many cents "a
their prime cost in francs, are said
to undergo uncommon processes
of restoration. which enable deal
ers to palm them off as new upon
the unwary purchaser, or to sell
them at good profit to those who are
content to wear secondhand goods. A
man might be able to rig himself out
as completely and in as short time &C
this market as at any Moses" in the
most fashionable parts of the city. The
trying-on rooms are not numerous, bus
one ready-made coat is often as good
as another. 1t is said that trousers ara
sold there at prOpOrtiOnately cheaper
rate than coats because they wear out
sooner and are oftener replaced.
Into the mysteries of feminine attire
we will not venture to intrude; but the
Supply of articles for wOmen's use APP
pears to- be greater than that for men.
Judging from the sums annually ex-
pended by ladies upon their adorn-
ments in certain portion of society, it
is doubtless true that caSt-off clothing
of this sort constitutes a distinct and
peculiarly profitable branch of the busi-
ness. 1t is, indeed, whispered that
'ravishing toilets" frequently change
hands and grace the persons of sue
cession of fair wearers; but, Of course,
the most profound secrecy is observed
in such matters Truth, however, COM
pels us to say that there are not many
ready-made dresses at the Temple"
but there is abundance of cheap materi-
ais for making the dresses. WOmen's
cloaks, mantles. jackets. or by what
ever other name their outer garments
are called. are largely kept in stock,
and as they are exposed for sale they
look very neat. Bonnets, ribbons and
flowers also abound. The "Marche du
Temple" is, in fact, provision market
for man and woman's outward bodily
needs.
The Temple" of to-day is quite an
elegant market compared with what it
was in bygone years, when held on the
Place des Innocents and the Place aux
Veaux. 1t was removed to its present
site in 1903 and established inside the
garden grounds of the famous fortress
of the Knights Templar, called LA
Tour du Temple" whence Louis XVI.
and his unfortunate Queen, Marie An
toinette. were led to the scaffold in
1898. At first the market was held in
the open air, but soon a structure was
erected from plans furnished by the
architect Molinos. The last vestiges
of the grand old gloomy tower, in
which Sir Sidney Smith, Toussaint Lou
venture. Moreau and Pichegru had been
confined, and which had been built rs
early as 1922, disappeared in 1905; and
the market building itself was entirely
pulled down and the space laid out in
the present handsome square and
garden in 1864. The .'Marche du Tenn
pie, rs it now stands, is Il spacious
iron and glass structure, divided into
six pavilions, and intersected by five
avenues; it contains twenty-fOur hum
dred stalls and covers an area of u 900
square feet. The stalls are rented out
ut an annual charge of S4O0, and the
receipts for each occupant are said to
average between $1,000 and $4,000
year. There was until recently an
upper floor to this market called the
.carreau," which closed ut 1890. and
to every one going in charge of one
cent was made. An order suppreSSinS
this portion of the market has, how
ever, been stuck up on the walls of the
Temple" and fermentation through
out the quarter is the consequence.
The lower market is free, and is open
until dusk in the evening. The differ
ent payilions of which the market is
composed belong to Il French company
that advanced the funds for building
thn,,, hut tho rrholo ,n,.1,,,nr.tr ,-,-o,.t IL,